Fundraising Policy
The Stanford Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence Institute (Stanford HAI) was established to advance AI research, education, policy, and practice to improve the human condition.
The Institute aims to conduct research on fundamental and applied topics; convene stakeholders from academia, government, civil society, and industry to address critical technical and societal challenges; and educate students and leaders across all sectors.
HAI is part of Stanford University, a private, not-for-profit institution. We seek and accept philanthropic donations to help fulfill our mission. In doing so, we follow all university guidelines. This document provides additional detail and context regarding HAI’s fundraising practices.
HAI Donor Policy
Sources of funding may include government agencies, philanthropic foundations or trusts, individuals, or companies that wish to support our mission of advancing AI technology to serve humanity.
We do not accept donations from, or endorse, any political organizations or candidates.
Accepting a donation is not a signal of Stanford HAI’s endorsement of an organization or individual, or their point of view.
Gifts are only accepted from named entities and individuals known to the University. HAI always discloses corporate donations, including membership in affiliate programs. Under certain circumstances, and with university approval, we may agree not to disclose the name of an individual donor who wishes to remain anonymous, as is permitted by U.S. law. Both the identity of the individual and the reason for desiring anonymity must be disclosed to and approved by both the Institute and the university.
Stanford employees are not allowed to accept unsolicited personal gifts exceeding $50 in value, solicited gifts in any amount, or special favors from organizations or individuals with which the university does, or may, conduct business.
Use of Funds
Funding is used in accordance with the terms of the gift to support general operations and staff; fellows, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows; undergraduate research, summer internships, and postgraduate fellowships; fundamental and applied research; data sets; compute resources; reports and position papers; and public events.
Academic Independence
No donations or conditions on donations will be accepted that might compromise the independence, accuracy, or autonomy of our work, or restrain the views expressed by researchers at HAI.
Donors cannot dictate research topics pursued by HAI researchers, though the terms of a gift may restrict its use to an area of research or a specific research project. Donors cannot direct our operational activities, including decisions related to employment, partnerships, or events. HAI does not allow donors or research sponsors to control permission to publish research results. If research employs a sponsor’s proprietary or confidential data, the sponsor may be given the opportunity to review results for the sole purpose of flagging inadvertent disclosures.
Stanford HAI will only do research that can be published openly and whose results can be made available to everyone equally; results cannot be proprietary to any sponsoring entity. In general, if our research generates patentable knowledge, Stanford and the faculty member own the patent, not the sponsor. Stanford does not accept classified government research.
All research published by members of Stanford HAI will disclose sources of funding and potential conflicts of interest. A list of HAI corporate, institutional, and individual donors will be published annually. If any donors have requested anonymity, this will be noted.
Contact Us
For questions, please contact HAI-Institute@stanford.edu.